


Can't Help Falling In Love

by Miracles_happen



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dinner, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hoodies, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Nesta Archeron-centric, Nesta Archeron/Cassian Fluff, POV Nesta Archeron, Rhysand Cassian and Azriel are Brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 08:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18205781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miracles_happen/pseuds/Miracles_happen
Summary: Nesta is hurt and Cassian is a good boyfriend and helps her.Aka I'm sad that I'm single





	Can't Help Falling In Love

Nesta groaned at the insistent knocking at the door of her apartment. It was bad enough that she had severely injured her leg and couldn’t go to school that day because it hurt like fuck. Now, some idiot decided to come to her apartment and—

“Hey,” Cassian said as she angrily opened the door to reveal him leaning against the door, cocky grin spread across his face. He was holding a Trader Joe’s bag that appeared to be pretty heavy, although she couldn’t see inside it— “Hey, no peeking,” Cassian joked, moving it out of her line of sight, making her almost fall forward onto her face. Cassian, being the good boyfriend he was, immediately dropped the bag to catch her. “Wouldn’t want you to get more injured, would we?” he asked with a wink, (annoyingly) making Nesta’s heart flutter.

“What are you doing here?” she snapped, attempting to push off of him, but, as she couldn’t use a leg, wasn’t all that effective.

“Feyre said you destroyed your leg,” Cassian replied. Of course, Feyre would tell him. Her sister’s boyfriend was Cassian’s brother, and they hung out together a lot. “I wanted to see for myself.”

To the average person, that comment would’ve signaled that Cassian did not care. But, after dating him for a few years and being friends even longer, Nesta knew that was just a coverup for checking up on her. That’s what made them click when every sign—their hot tempers, sarcasm, and stubbornness—would’ve led their relationship to its doom long ago. They could both tell when the other was bluffing. They could both see past the snarky retorts and see how much the other cared.

“Hurts like fuck,” Nesta responded, “and I assume that’s why you’re here.” Cassian’s facial expression changed into a face Nesta had seen a hundred times before but still had no clue what it meant.

“Bingo, darling,” Cassian replied with a wink. Nesta looked at him and noticed at the same time he did that she was still leaning into him. He was the first to respond. Swiftly, he picked her up bridal style and carried her into the apartment, ignoring her shrieks of protest. She was going to say something about the bag left outside when he plopped her onto the couch in the middle of the apartment, kissing her softly on the forehead before untangling his arms and walking back to the door.

“You do know I’m in no shape for sex, right?” Nesta asked as Cassian slammed the door behind him and locking it.

“Yeah, I’m not a dumbass,” Cassian answered, dropping the bag on the kitchen counter.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Nesta retorted, rolling her eyes. Cassian got that look of his face from before and she felt the need to ask what it was, but it felt like the wrong time.

“No, tragically, we are doing something considerably more boring.” Cassian drew out a book from the bag and tossed it to Nesta. She flipped it over to see the cover of her favorite book that she didn’t own. She stared at it for a minute, barely registering what it meant. The library was miles from his house, and they barely ever had it in stock. “The library was being really weird about it, everyone wanted to get their hands on it, and I managed to get a hold on it a couple of months ago. It came in today,” Cassian explained as he continued to unpack the bag. Nesta twisted to look at him.

Then Nesta noticed the contents of the bag. “Why did you bring broccoli?” she asked, picking out the weirdest thing on the counter. Cassian turned to face her, crossing his arms with a soft grin.

“I’m making you dinner,” Cassian replied simply.

“I didn’t know you could cook,” Nesta said. Cassian laughed, making Nesta’s heart skip a beat. Would it really do that every time he laughed?

“Usually, Az does it, but I am useful, despite what my frat boy persona might suggest.”

“Let me help,” Nesta mumbled as she struggled to stand up and walk to the kitchen.

“Nope, nope, nope, nope,” Cassian said hurriedly, scrambling over to the couch to stop her attempt of standing. “You are going to stay here,” he took a blanket thrown on the couch and put it over her, “and ogle me while pretending to read this book.” He handed her the book.

“I don’t _ogle_ you,” Nesta retorted, even though he was totally and completely right. Every time he was over while she was reading, she would watch him, whether he was just talking, laughing, or just sitting there, over the rim of her book. As much as she would deny it, she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him.

“Sure you don’t,” Cassian replied, flicking her nose. She huffed. “And to make your ogling easier and reading harder,” he shrugged off the hoodie he was wearing, revealing the short sleeve shirt he was wearing underneath, showing the muscles earned from years and years of football. Cassian tossed the hoodie to her with a wink. Nesta glared at him until he had his back turned. Then she promptly put the too big sweatshirt over her. In a second, she was pleasantly assaulted by the scent of him—pine, crisp apple, and burnt wood. She snuggled closer into the hoodie and began “reading.”

Cassian began cutting the vegetables, whistling while he worked, gaze flicking to Nesta occasionally. Whenever it did, she felt her cheeks flush and hurriedly resumed her reading. At some point, he put on music from his phone and the Spice Girls “If You Want to Be My Lover” filled the apartment. If they were still friends, Nesta would’ve chucked the giant book at his face and yelled something about distracting her. Because they were more comfortable with each other and knew one another too well, she kept her silence, chuckling from behind the cover of her book. Cassian placed the dish in the oven with a flourish and a hip swing to close it, his normal really stupid(ly adorable) attitude. He began cleaning the dishes, silencing Whitney Houston. 

“Can you put the music back on?” Nesta asked quietly, half-hoping Cassian wouldn’t hear. He turned to face her.

“What? Is the view not good enough?”

“It is when I can’t see your gorgeous face,” Nesta replied, more than half-hoping Cassian didn’t hear. It seemed he did, as his cheeks became bright red. He coughed and resumed dishwashing, also turning the music back on. Nesta felt embarrassed, so she hid behind the book, not even sparing a glance at what he was doing.

After a few minutes, Cassian sauntered over with a DVD in his hands. “Wow, such ancient technology,” Nesta commented, praying her voice wasn’t as wobbly as she thought it was. 

“You’re the one who has a DVD player,” Cassian replied, turning on the TV and player.

“Elain’s an old soul.” Nesta remembered Elain whining about the need to bring it to college from their dad’s old home, saying that it’s a “key part of their childhood” and they “needn’t forget where they came from.” Feyre and Nesta had relented, if only that it barely took up any space and Elain used it all the time with her vast collection of DVDs in her room. Nesta placed the book on the coffee table, having no more need to use it as a cover, and watch Cassian squat in front of the TV and insert the DVD. After a moment, the screen lit up with the _Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone_ title screen. “And so it seems are you.”

He turned around to stare at her. “Bullshit, this is your favorite movie.”

“The fifth one is better.”

“This one is the most iconic, though. You know all of the lines.”

“Iconicness doesn’t determine how much I enjoy the film itself.” Cassian looked like he was going to respond with another comeback, but the timer for whatever was in the oven rang and Cassian hurried to get to it. Nesta adjusted herself in his absence so she could be in the corner of the couch with her leg properly positioned. 

“That smells heavenly,” Nesta commented as Cassian took out the tray of… 

“Lasagna,” Cassian explained, setting it on the counter and scooping pieces onto plates. He brought two plates still steaming and set them on the coffee table. Nesta watched as he took the remote and started the movie. He handed her a plate and sat down next to her, digging into his own plate, attentively watching the movie. Nesta watched him instead, ignoring Dumbledore and McGonagall on the screen. She probably sighed, she honestly had no idea, because Cassian’s eyes flicked to her, causing her face to heat up and her to focus on the lasagna. It tasted as good as it smelled. This time she knew she sighed as she ate the delicious food. Holy shit, he could cook. That fact just made him four times more hot than Nesta thought he was. 

She was distracted by the clink of Cassian placing his empty plate on the table. She felt his hands wrap around her waist and pull her into his warmth. Her attention turned to the TV, mouthing “but last year I had 37” with the character on the screen, wanting something, anything to distract her from the beautiful person she was in the arms of. At some point, Cassian had started playing with her hair, and she felt him braiding it up. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest, and she tried to twist to face him, wincing at the pain it caused her leg. Honestly, she forgot that she had even hurt it. 

Cassian shushed her, moving her head to face toward the screen again and whispered in her ear, “You’ll ruin it.” Whether he was talking about the moment or the braids, Nesta had no idea. Either way, she kept her head facing the screen. Once Cassian was working on the tail of the second braid, Nesta realized the situation they were in—snuggling on the couch, Cassian braiding her hair, him making dinner for her, watching her favorite movie, wearing his hoodie—and recognized what she had been avoiding thinking about for years.

“I love you,” she whispered to Cassian, not even bothering to hope he hadn’t heard. She felt him freeze up at the three words they had not said to each other in the years they had been together. Nesta could almost hear the thundering of his heart with the thunder on the screen as Hagrid knocked down the door of the cabin. Or maybe that was her’s. She wasn’t sure how he would react. Would he reciprocate how she felt for him? Or would this declaration mean a new thing for them that he was not ready for? Was Nesta even ready for it? She had just said it, not even thinking about the consequences. But it was true, she truly loved him, his selflessness, kindness, care, humor, everything.

She was snapped out of her thoughts with the sound of Cassian finishing off the braid with a band. Leave it to him to finish what he started, outrageous declarations aside. Nesta twisted to face him, once again ignoring the normally blinding pain in her leg as she held herself up by the knee on her uninjured leg, arms on either side of Cassian’s face that once again was painted with the expression from before. Honestly, Nesta didn’t know if she expected (or even hoped for) him to keep watching the movie rather than look at her. She stared at those wondrous hazel eyes that held so much light.

“Tell me what that look means,” Nesta whispered, only loud enough for the two of them. When Cassian gave her a questioning look, she continued, “You had it before at the door, then when you were making dinner, and a hundred times before, and I haven’t asked what it was before, but you’re giving it to me now, and I really want to know what it means.” She was rambling, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Cassian’s lips parted for a second before he spoke up.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered, and something in Nesta just... broke. She didn’t blush, it wasn’t the time. This wasn’t Cassian’s normal flirting in between sassy comments, this was Cassian being laid bare in front of her, even if he was fully clothed and only said two words. “And I love you, too.” Every restraint Nesta had for kissing him dissolved and she leaned in to kiss him. It wasn’t their most passionate kiss by any means, but it was soft and gentle and everything Nesta needed.

She pulled away, staring at his eyes, filled with more light that she had ever seen. Nesta collapsed onto him, snuggling into his warmth, his arms encircling her, making her feel safe. It wasn’t anything special, no grand gesture or anything, but Nesta loved it. And together, they watched Harry be a stupid ass bitch and were happy just to be in each other’s company.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm now sad that I'm single...  
> Please leave kudos and comments!!! <3


End file.
